


Imagine: Memoirs Of A Nonexistence

by SleepyIbuki



Series: Imagine [1]
Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen, daily life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 00:28:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13178469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyIbuki/pseuds/SleepyIbuki
Summary: An everyday adventure. An adventure every day. Why say no to that?Takes place before the game Hopeless Masquerade.





	Imagine: Memoirs Of A Nonexistence

The bedsheets rustled, and- quite literally- out popped a young woman in green paisley pajamas.

No, _girl_ would be more apropos- the manner in which she acted would greatly contest any sort of adulthood. Landing gracefully on one foot, she sprung off the bed and frontflipped, touching down right in front of her nightstand. The mirror showed possibly the brightest thing in the room- a cheerful visage, a grin from ear to ear, freckled cheeks, and shining grey eyes, all framed by lovely silver locks cascading down to her back and shoulders. Absentmindedly she looked herself over in the mirror, then giggled and went to dress.

The girl was of a peculiar sort: she was always cheerful. She could not remember the last time she had grown impatient, or worried, or embarrassed. Not even as she slid on a fresh pair of undergarments did one iota of emotion cross her mind, other than that same everlasting happiness. And she never gave thought to how unusual that was.

She never really gave thought to anything. Her third eye, revolving around her person on a vinelike cord, made certain of that. It was the decisive feature of her species, the _satori_ , and yet as all _satori_ had open and highly active third eyes, hers was the opposite- docile and sealed shut. She couldn't remember why that was. In fact, she had forgotten every memory she'd ever had- even the very stigma of the memory itself. Yet she was hardly what one would consider "braindead", nor would she fall into repeated patterns of times past. Every day brought a brand-new adventure, whether within the walls of the Palace of the Earth Spirits, or beyond, in the wilds of the Surface World, and she absolutely loved every second.

Through this, she had developed a means of being without actually thinking.

Thought had become alien to her, an unnecessary process. She easily slipped on her yellow silk vest (the third eye didn't even tangle) and wiggled her index finger in the same manner a magician would flick her wand to cast a spell, singing to herself,

_"Geraniums, snapdragons, roses of blue,_  
_Lavender, daylilies, dahlias too!"_

She giggled again. Flowers especially made her giddy, so much so that she even adorned her bonnet with a different kind every day. She jabbed her imaginary wand-finger at the the hat, and suddenly a miniature bouquet of indigo roses swirled into being about the brim. She would have stood there for a while and admired her handiwork, had a sharp voice not interjected, beckoning her-

"Koishi! Dinner is ready!"

Her eyes brightened even more as she swiped her bonnet, jammed it on her head, and shouted, "Coming!" Even for someone as thoughtless as she was, young women looking the part came second nature.

 

The Palace of Earth Spirits was unnecessarily labyrinthine. One wrong turn would send a wayward guest on an hour-long journey just to reclaim his bearings, and yet Koishi Komeiji, who spent much more time out and about in the Land of Illusion than in the Palace, had absolutely no problem taking the scenic route. She'd climb stairs endlessly one day and freefall forty flights at a time the next, and she would still reach the dining room in a fraction of the time it would take the most experienced adventurer or mapmaker.

Each window was painstakingly lined with stained glass, and the underground sunlight hit it in such a way that an array of colorful shapes was left over the already patterned carpet. Koishi took one look at the visual cacophony and right there and then made a game out of it, bounding once again to and fro, pirouetting on color after color, somersaulting over the colorless portions-

And then stopped for a moment, on her side, still suspended in midair.

"Sister!" She exclaimed joyously, and dashed down the hallway. In any other case a maiden who appeared as if gravity had turned sideways for her would look severely bizarre, but Koishi defied all sense of normality. And the person waiting for her at the end of the hallway, despite being met with a full-on hug and knocked off her feet, knew this fact. "Good morning!"

"Koishi," she sighed, "it's nearly seven in the evening."

_"Good morning, sister!"_ Koishi repeated, the smile on her face never fading.

"Okay, okay. Good morning." The sister responded in turn as they floated, Koishi nuzzling her out of the hallway. Undeniably, the Komeiji siblings were close, regardless of Koishi's constant journeys. Being that the only familial ties they had as of recent were each other, it fell to them to govern the Underground District, a daunting task to be certain. However the elder Komeiji, named "Satori" as a testament to their race's legacy, was like a well-oiled machine, managing both the City and the Palace with every last second of the time allotted, as if it were part of an airtight schedule.

"Tonight's dish will be different from our usual cuisine," she announced as they neared the dining room. "Consider it a branching out of sorts. Hats off at the table."

Koishi quickly complied, dismounting from Satori, taking her rose-studded bonnet and whipping it across the room like a chakram in one fluid motion. It landed squarely on the corner of the furthest chair, sending petals fluttering all over the table.  
Satori sighed. Even she couldn't read her own sister.

 

Satori Komeiji was everything her sister wasn't. Whereas Koishi found joy in everything, she remained composed even amongst the most extreme stimuli. A mop of unruly, short lavender hair and robes of sky blue and pink directly contrasted Koishi's features. She even preferred to stay grounded, despite the fact that she could fly.

Any challenge she met was with a stony frown. Her third eye was nearly bloodshot, darting around as if searching for an invisible enemy to glare at. Though the _satori_ generally refrained from using their third eyes unless they felt threatened, hers had been on standby for several years, and had the wear to show for it- she didn't regret for a moment the prospect of invasion via reading one's heart. After all, it was the driving force behind her maintenance of the Underground- at a cost.

No one dared speak with this individual, not without adequate reason. Her frosty disposition, apparent lack of fear, and aforementioned third eye left her with the society's moniker of "The Living Nightmare." Naturally, these rumors flew throughout the City, faster than the agents of Heaven, some say. However, rumors can only ever be gross exaggerations of the truth. The exception to the rule sat across from her, poking her dish of-

"What is this, exactly?"

"According to one of the manuscripts in my study, it is described as a dish comprised of rice and soup, called _risotto alla milanese_ , with vegetables on the side," the senior Komeiji-turned-cook explained. "It's a central meal concept for the realm of Mediterraneus. I decided to try it out on a whim for my dear sister's return."

"You're such a nerd, sis, even if it looks like you did it wrong."

Satori wasn't even fazed by her younger kin's remark, and replied just as quickly, "Say that after you've tasted it."

"If you insist." Koishi raised the spoon next to her bowl. "But are we to start so soon?"

"What, you're not getting cold feet now, are you?" Satori teased, a rare grin spreading across her thin lips. It was almost frightening to see her this animated.

"Not that. Shouldn't the others be here, too?" Koishi poked at her risotto continuously, enjoying its texture more than its taste.

"Alas, they are still hard at work down in Former Hell." Satori's smile was gone in the blink of an eye. "I suspect they won't be done for another two hours or so."

"Then what's with the other dishes?" Koishi motioned towards the other side of the table where, certainly enough, five more generous portions of _risotto_ lay.

"Very good question, Koishi. As it turns out, we're having company-"

"WHOA!" Immediately Koishi slammed her hands on the table, almost standing with anticipation. Since when did Satori ever take the initiative to invite anyone to the palace? Was it a long-lost family member? Officials on important City business? Or perhaps, most excitingly, a group of her sister's friends hidden from the Underground! Juicy secrets like that were so much fun to keep!

"Easy. You'll spoil your dish," Satori chided.

"You're so naughty, sister!" Little Komeiji cried slyly, pointing the wand-finger in her older sister's direction. "How could you have secret friends behind my back?"

Satori knew this accusation too was in jest, and opened her mouth to reply, but a fierce rapping on the stone door coursed through the dining room. "Speak of the devil," she said instead, and stood. Koishi, still on edge, couldn't wait to see who could have possibly caught her sister's interest.

"Speak, you who approaches the Komeiji household." Satori's voice again became hard and cutting. The person that responded did so in a slow and dainty manner, almost as if she were lost in a reverie, but nevertheless direct.

 

"I am here, as per your prior invitation."

**Author's Note:**

> About a year after writing Endless Emerald, I was taken by another urge to write.
> 
> Reading Symposium of Post-mysticism as the large canon nerd that I am, I was taken aback by Koishi's article in particular- sealing her third eye had left her unable to have any conscious thought? Not having seen a character before, and seeing how she absolutely wrecked faces and left impressions in Subterranean Animism, I decided to challenge myself, to see exactly how I thought such a mindset- or rather, a lack thereof, would play out.
> 
> The result is this really short (shorter than EE, even!) story.
> 
> Of course, this leaves a ton of questions. Is happiness the default state of existence? What exactly coerced Koishi to close her third eye in the first place? Why do I keep putting flowers in my stories? The most pressing of them is probably "How is Satori able to remember her sister?" She probably can't, in all honesty, but that would be too sad, and Imagine is decidedly NOT about sad.
> 
> It's also not about cliffhangers. But therein lies the intrigue, no?
> 
> \- Fusion? (using the alternate name SleepyIbuki because question marks aren't allowed)


End file.
